Santa Claus and wife Mrs. Claus stop to chat on their way to visit the eager children of the Boys & Girls Club of Craig. They will be visiting several Craig locations today before Santa makes his nighttime deliveries to people around the world.

Mrs. Claus: “Working with the charities here is important to us, too.”

Santa: “We work with Horizons, Christmas for Kids, Advocates-Crisis Support Services, a lot of them.”

Mrs. Claus: “It’s just very rewarding to bring in things for the people that can’t get out and share and be part of it so they can have a Christmas.”

What do you use to get around when you’re not using your sleigh?

Santa: “Well, we’ve got a few summer sleds, but like I tell everybody, you’ve got to have rubber on the road. I’ve got a couple hot rods that I drive during the summer, and my pickup truck with a ‘SANTAC’ plate on it. We can only run the sled with snow, and I only need it on Christmas Eve, so I hope we get some more snow.”

Biggest requests this year?

Santa: “Electronics. Kids want an Xbox 360, mp3 (players), iPads, cell phones, anything electronic. Then a lot of them like Legos still or Transformers or some of the things going on right now.”

Mrs. Claus, what is your main duty when you’re visiting kids?

Mrs. Claus: “One duty is always keeping the basket of candy canes full. And, I also talk to all the people where we visit, children and older people. Some of the children talk to me that won’t go to him.”

Santa: “There are some places we go with kids, I guess Santa scares them, so she helps them out.”

Where can people expect to see you today?

Santa: “I’ve got five Christmas Eve visits starting at 6 (p.m.). There’s Cowboy Christmas and a couple people who have donated a lot of money to charity. We’ll be going all around town. I use that time as my ‘halfway around the world’ point to give the reindeer a break and tell the kids I see that they’ve been extra special. They always want to know where the reindeer are, and I tell them that it’s still hunting season and a lot of people can’t tell the difference between them and elk, so that’s why we don’t bring them into town.”

What’s life for the Claus family starting Dec. 26?

Santa: “It’s a 364-day vacation. I’ve worked my one day for the year. (Chuckles) We start making visits about 55 days in, like doing stuff in November and then the Christmas parade.”

Favorite Christmas movie to watch when you have spare time?

Mrs. Claus: “I like the original ‘Miracle on 34th Street.’”

Santa: “When I get done with all the work, I like to sit down and watch all the movies on the Hallmark Channel. I like the ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ with Natalie Wood, too. I also like a couple of ‘The Santa Clause’ ones with Tim Allen.”

Final Christmas messages for the people of Craig?

Santa: “I really want to thank the town for letting us do this. We really enjoy doing this, and I tell everybody just because I got old doesn’t mean I have to grow up.”